This invention relates to a decorative article and method of manufacturing such article. This invention is especially adapted to a decorative cover for flowerpots. More particularly, the invention concerns a decorative pot cover that may be inexpensively manufactured and compactly shipped in large quantities to distributors in the floral industry.
There has long existed the desire to cover flowerpots with a decorative wrapping to not only hide the functionally appearing flowerpot but also to complement the beauty of the flowers or plant in the pot. Traditionally, such cover is provided as a sheet of decorated foil, hand-molded by the florist to the contour of the pot and complemented by a ribbon or the like. It was soon discovered that by using various polymeric materials, such as polyethylene and polypropylene, which tend to return to their original shape after distortion, and various manufacturing techniques, pot covers could be manufactured in a factory and shipped in bulk quantities. At the point of use, the flowerpot is dropped into the pot cover. Because of the nature of the materials used, any distortion of the cover's shape during shipping would not cause permanent deformation in the covers. An example of such manufactured pot cover is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,355,559, issued to Renner for COVER FOR CONTAINERS. In the Renner disclosure, randomly-located plicated portions, or overlapping folds, are heat-sealed in place to impart a self-sustaining nature to the pot cover made from a sheet of non-self-sustaining material. By virtue of its manufacture from a single sheet of material that is formed but not otherwise disturbed, the Renner pot cover is impervious to water that may spill from the flowerpot.
One limitation of prior pot covers is that the plicated portions are randomly oriented, which presents a casual, cluttered appearance to the product. Importantly, the random structure limits the pattern that can be used on the sheet stock, from which the pot cover is manufactured, to a relatively small pattern that will be randomly distributed along the plicated portions. This further contributes to the cluttered appearance of the pot cover.